1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an information-processing system having at least one workstation provided with a processor unit, a screen and an operator control device such as a keyboard or mouse, at least one printer provided with a control unit and an operator control panel, and a digital network to which the workstations and the printers are connected. In particular, the invention concerns providing a workstation with a program for communication with a printer for sending print jobs to the printer and calling up or receiving status information concerning the printer, which program displays, on the workstation screen, a symbolic illustration or icon symbolizing current status information concerning the printer.
2. Description of Related Art
A system of this kind is known from EP-A 0 398 648. In this known system the status of application programs, including a printer application, is displayed using icons on the screen of the workstation. When the status of an application changes, the icon of that application is dynamically adjusted in this system, by the addition of a different icon.
In Applicants"" patent application EP-A 0 814 424, a digital copying machine is described including a scanner and a printer section, in which the printer section can also be used as a network printer. This machine is adapted to receive and process two types of print jobs from a workstation coupled to the network, namely automatic print jobs which, after receipt, must be printed directly and without the intervention of a printer operator, and interactive print jobs (referred to as xe2x80x9cdeferred print jobsxe2x80x9d in this patent application), which are only received by the printer and stored in a memory, but are not printed, unless an operator selects on the printer operator control panel a print job of this kind and gives a print command. This machine thus operates in one of two modes, namely an autonomous mode in which at its own initiative it executes an (automatic) print job, and a command-controlled mode, in which it executes a reproduction job, a copying process or an interactive print process.
The present invention recognizes and solves new problems presented by using digital copying machines as network printers. Such an expanded role for digital copying machines adds new dimensions to the effective utilization of these machines. On the one hand, a user who sends his print job to the machine for automatic printing thereby is interested in the question whether the machine is ready to process his print job immediately, and on the other hand the user can immediately see at his workplace (at his workstation) whether the machine is available for a command-controlled job (e.g. a copying job).
When a user intends to make a copy or an interactive print, it is not only desirable that he should see on his workstation screen whether the machine of his choice is free or occupied in a copying or printing process, but also to differentiate in detail the information concerning the xe2x80x9coccupiedxe2x80x9d state. An automatic print job can of course be interrupted without obstruction to someone else. The senders of such automatic print jobs usually do not come to fetch their prints immediately, and if these prints are ready somewhat later, because another user has interrupted the printing process for some time, this will usually be readily accepted.
Conditions are different if the machine is occupied in the command-controlled mode, namely because an operator is busy at the machine. In that case it is much less acceptable to interrupt the current process because the operator is waiting for the prints from that process.
The invention now meets the above-described need for enhanced printer status information, monitoring and control, by the fact that the printer control unit is adapted to execute print jobs in either an autonomous mode or a command-controlled mode, and the program displays different icons for those cases in which the printer is active in the autonomous mode and those in which the printer is active in the command-controlled mode.
Utilizing a different icon for different xe2x80x9coccupiedxe2x80x9d states is a new solution to a new problem, considered in the light of the prior art.
Preferably, an icon has a form which is self-evident or otherwise easily understood, and hence according to one embodiment of the invention the icon for the command-controlled xe2x80x9coccupiedxe2x80x9d mode is preferably in a form which contains a human figure.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.